Tag: favorite things

Hobbies and habits

What if I were to make my husband my hobby? I could love and pay attention to him when the hustle and bustle of life allowed me the time. Whenever I could find a hour or two I could squeeze him in to receive my undivided attention. As life’s pace picked up I’d put him on the back burner until things slow down a bit again. Oh but throughout my days I am sure I’ll be dreaming of a perfect life where my giving him my undivided attention, love and time, would pay the bills and put food on the table.

How long I wonder would I be married? How long would it take for my husband to feel like I would always be too busy for him? Even if he loved me with all his heart could he really stick around to be my favorite hobby?
What about my kids? How would they fare if I made them my hobby? Whenever time allowed I could give them my time and attention. Of course they would have to sit on that back burner when life got busy, but, just until it slowed down a bit then I could give them two or three hours a week. How long until child protective services would come to investigate?

Chances are if I were to make my husband and kids mere hobbies it wouldn’t be long before I find myself alone. Relationships that we really want to have in life, take time, effort, patience and sacrifice. They need nurtured and cared for.

There is comfort in a hobby. Some even call hobbies they’re coping mechanisms. A place we leave the outside world; outside, and we go to enjoy something we like to do. A time some find rest, relaxation, even happiness and joy. Then, when time is up, we then set it down and return to reality, to the outside world.


We may think about this hobby often. We may sneak in time for it, an hour or two when we shuffle around our busy schedule. We may even long for the time to enjoy this hobby more. Life, however, seems to become more and more busy and because our hobby, doesn’t seem to pay the bills or put food on the table, it is the thing that takes the back burner position.

We may sometimes find time for it, but for the most part, we just hold on to our dream of a life where our hobby would, in fact, pay the bills and put food on the table, so we could then really love and enjoy our lives.

Although God loves every minute we devote to Him in our lives, He doesn’t want to be our much loved hobby any more than our spouses and kids do. We shouldn’t forget, to imagine ourselves in that hobby role also, as we would not like being somebody’s favorite hobby either.

Matthew 22:37-38 NLT — Jesus replied, “‘You must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.

God won’t just be our hobby. He seeks intimacy a real tangible relationship with us. Whatever we wouldn’t do to our spouse or our kids we shouldn’t do to Him and whatever we would do for our kids and our spouse we should do for Him.

Relationship with Father God isn’t a hobby, it’s a lifestyle. Just like when we first get married, we learn to live as a couple, and again when we have our first baby, we have to learn how to operate with each new edition into our lives. So it is when we accept Jesus as our Lord and personal Savior. We must learn how to operate in relationship with Him. Jesus isn’t a ghost who haunts the church we attend Sunday mornings. He is not left at church until our next Sunday or midweek visit.

Just like the comfort we seem to find from our hobbies, we can find comfort also in a habit. A feeling of safety, kind of like a routine, we know what to expect, no surprises, basically always the same. We really don’t have to put much effort into thinking, as our body kind of learns to go with the motion, on a subconscious like level. It’s almost memorized to the point if we try to change it we will feel; off, physically, mentally and emotionally.


As long as we keep the habit, we stay calm and un-stressed as it takes no brain work. Some habits we don’t even notice we are doing until someone points them out.

God won’t live in a habitual Box. Habitual behavior requires little to no faith as there isn’t any risk. Emotions die off to almost no feeling left at all, and there is no real change or chance of personal growth. Even if one gets the Blue Ribbon or gold medal, for being the best at maintaining good habits, spiritually there is stagnation.

When God becomes a habit we start unconsciously going through the motions, emotionlessly doing what we know we should. There is no real enthusiasm or feeling behind what we’re doing.

Has God become our beloved, favorite, hobby that we can’t wait to get back to whenever life’s not busy? Has God become our habit that we can almost do blindfolded and without really thinking?

God is not a hobby or a habit or a routine, God is a lifestyle.

Matthew 6:33 NLT — Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.

Father God spoke This perspective to my spirit,
He said “ Those things you think your husband should do for you, those things you believe prove or disprove his true feelings of love for you, are the very same things I crave from you.”

He told me, “those things like he should know your likes and dislikes, he should be able to tell when someone lies about your character and stand up for you, he should be able to finish you sentences, he should want to know your interest, what’s on your mind and in your heart. He should remember things you both talked about and make an effort to know when you need help.’
‘Oh, daughter, cant you see, who your describing, who your looking for, is…. Me. This is how I,… love.… you.”

Psalm 139:1-4 NLT — O LORD, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, LORD.

Psalm 56:8 NLT — You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.

He then pointed out to me, that all the times I have cried and been upset, when I feel neglected by my husband, that He understands completely. He said He can empathize with how I feel when I’m feeling neglected by my husband, because of how it makes Him feel when His children are not spending time with Him.

He is asking for the kind of relationship and intimacy with us, that we give to those we care about here, in this life, He only asks, that we seek Him so we will find Him. Then we will find that He is not a distant far away God. He is right here, everyday, ready to communicate with, and love, every one of His children.

Hebrews 13:8 NLT — Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

God is the same, yesterday, today, and forever. He walks with us and talks with us just as we read He did in His Word. We need only give Him His proper place in our lives and focus on hearing His voice. We should be so determined to hear from Him that we, like Jacob, will wrestle with Him all night for Him to acknowledge us.

If we aren’t anxiously watching, waiting for Jesus return, chances are, we still don’t understand who we are in Christ and where we’re heading. Lies of the enemy cloud all around us but, truth will set us free, truth only found when in an intimate relationship with our Creator God! This friend’s, is what we were created for!

Until next time, may God bless you and keep you, as you seek Him with your whole heart.

My favorite things

For the last few years I believe Father God spoke to my spirit on various occasions about giving away something of mine to bless others. If I was to admit a small complaint, it would be that each time He asked me to give something away, it just happened to be one of my favorite things.

One such time I procrastinated for two weeks before I finally gave in and did what Father God was asking. My only copy of my favorite devotional was the item in question. That devotional meant so much to me because it got me through an extremely hard time in my life. I often told people that I highly recommend it as it saved my life. It took two weeks to open up and allow the Holy Spirit to convince me it truly was God requesting I give that devotional away.

The day I decided to finally be obedient, no sooner did I pull into the driveway, when the person to whom I was to give the book to, walked right by my car. I called out to her. As she approached my window I handed her the book and told her “ God wanted me to give this to you.” She looked at it and with a lit up face she smiled and said to me, “oh grandma just gave me this same book a few days ago.”

 As she handed the book back through my window, I knew in my spirit, grandma got my blessing. God first gave the job to me and not once did he push me or threaten me about it. No as a matter of fact he allowed me all the time I needed to settle my emotional ties to this worldly object. He was patient, understanding and gentle with me, but because the job needed done in the right timing, His timing, He asked Grandma whom happened to be mom to me, Mom then went obediently right out to do the job. As I sit in my car thinking about this, I couldn’t help but smile and tell the Lord okay I get it, I see what’s happened, I missed an opportunity to be blessed because of my emotional attachment to that book. I also chuckled with the realization that Father God worked it out so that I would see clearly that blessing was given to my mom because she acted immediately.

He was showing me that to be effective for Him it’s crucial to listen and act as quickly as I can as some jobs are time sensitive. He wouldn’t push me into obedience and He will always give me the space I need to heal or let go but at the same time the job needed done so He made sure it was. He didn’t rub it in my face, He didn’t tell me I failed, He never condemned me. He didn’t even seem slightly disappointed in me. Instead he got overjoyed along with me once the concept truly set in and I finally understood. Less than a week later someone else needed my book and that time I didn’t hesitate. That book led me closer to Father God, Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit. During major hardship in my life I knew that book help me get to know God on a whole different level than ever before. I never thought God would want me to part with it. Oh sentimental soul that I am. The prize is the new level of relationship I gained with Father God not the book the book was just the tool God used to draw me into this new level. I unwittingly placed the value on the wrong thing.

The true value was never the book itself, but it was found in what the book brought into my life. A close, intimate, relationship with Father, Son and Holy Ghost!

The Lord is showing me how easily I can find reasons to become attached to things of this world. How  occasionally  I convince myself that my attachment is justifiable. Because of this He had been asking for my favorite things to be given to someone else.

I find the more I act in obedience giving away my favorite possessions, the easier it gets. I won’t pretend not to hesitate, or whine, or pull a Jonah kinda move hoping to avoid it all together, because I do.. I’m still a work in progress after all.

Matthew 6:19-21 NLT — “Don’t store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be.

One of the things I have learned through all of this is, those things I have in this world that I try so hard to hold onto, once I’ve let them go, truly let them go joyfully and willingly, the weight that came off of me had been so heavy, I had no idea I carried such weight until it was lifted off me. I never noticed it until I was free of it.

This world has many treasures. It was after all designed by The Master Designer, whom  thought it, spoke it, and it was.. All for His good pleasure and as a blessing unto us. Sometimes we need a reminder that all things here are on loan, we cannot take them with us.

The enemy will help us find any and all possible reason to hold onto treasure here in order to stop us from longing for home. If he can cause us to become emotionally bound to our relationships and worldly possessions, it’s less likely for us to yearn for heaven when our hearts, everything we love, is here.

The enemy tricks us with treasures equivalent to less than a penny in comparison to the home Jesus has prepared for us once we are called home. Life doesn’t end here. This life isn’t even the dress rehearsal of eternity. It’s more like roll choosing.

1 Corinthians 3:12-15 NLT — Anyone who builds on that foundation may use a variety of materials—gold, silver, jewels, wood, hay, or straw. But on the judgment day, fire will reveal what kind of work each builder has done. The fire will show if a person’s work has any value. If the work survives, that builder will receive a reward. But if the work is burned up, the builder will suffer great loss. The builder will be saved, but like someone barely escaping through a wall of flames.

This life and what we do with it will determine our place in heavens society. This less than a millisecond of time is our schooling for life in the kingdom of Almighty God!

What we do with what Father God  gives us whether in abundance or small portion, including the time we are allotted here on Earth, determines what we will be in eternity.  

Friends, God does all the work for us and gives us the opportunity to be heroes for His glory. All we need to do is let go of this world and with all our heart seek Him, love Him and worship Him.

Until next time, may God bless you and keep you as you seek Him with your whole heart.